Sorry, I got a little excited. We actually get to start.
Please, no applause. Thank you. All right.
The Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights will now come to order.
We have two items on the agenda, Rule 45 approval, and
a resolution regarding the call for the establishment of Mexican American
Heritage Day, brought to us by Alderman Byron
Sigcho-Lopez.
Votes will be taken on this item. We will begin with a roll call to
establish quorum.
Alderwoman Dowell.
Alderwoman Gutierrez.
Alderperson Knutson.
Alderperson Rodriguez.
Alderperson Fuentes.
Alderman Taliaferro.
Alderwoman Cruz.
Alderman Cardona.
Alderwoman Rodriguez Sanchez.
Alderman CasadaAlderwoman Manelle Hoppenworth,
Alderwoman Hadden,
Vice Chair Taylor,
and myself, Alderman Vasquez, the chair. One, two, three.
There are seven members present. We have a quorum.
We have
Alderman Sergio Lopez, not member present for the record.
Alderpersons Cruz
and Rodriguez have requested
virtual option for committee hearing attendance in accordance with Rule 59 of the
City Council Rules of Order. Can I get a motion to allow them to attend this
meeting virtually? So moved by Alderman Quesada.
Hearing no objection, so ordered.
At this time, we will begin the public comment period.
The period is limited to 30 minutes.
No, the whole total amount.
Oh.
I know. Everyone gets 30 minutes today. No.
Out of respect for everyone's time, each speaker is limited to 30 minutes.
No, each speaker is limited to three minutes. You guys are hilarious.
Remote speakers will comment first, followed by those in person, as of
10:15 AM, Friday, May 15th, 2026.
Zero callers have requested to speak today, so we will move on to in-person
speakers.
Our first speaker today will be Mr.
George Blakemore.
The first one. Oh.
Sir, you're about 30 minutes late, and I'm
exhausted.
I
holler and curse and advocate for
these meetings to start on time. Who would schedule
the meeting at the same time?
Who does this? To do this, one of these birds.
And I got a little loud, and I'm not apologizing for
this. The other people were silent.
They didn't care. They didn't care.
And the sergeant-at-arms running up to me, saying
I'm the problem. You can't see any problem here?
I'm talking to you people here, you White folks.
And a few Mexican folks. You don't have an issue
with what has happened to you? They was on end time.
Oh, there's something wrong here.
However, I'm here, and I'm totally against this
ordinance. Y'all already had your Mexican day.
You have that every year. You can celebrate that in your community.
Last time when y'all
was doing these celebrations, they had to stop it because you was coming
downtown and acting so loud. Oh, it was
terrible. It was terrible. So
illegal immigrants,
you don't belong here. Illegal means that you came through
immigration and naturalization.
And I'm looking up here now, I don't see one, two,
three, four... I don't see any Black aldermen here.
So perhaps they're doing a silent protest on you.
Perhaps I don't see one identifiable Black.
And this is a waste of time, this day.
Y'all already have... We have already recognized
your Mexico freedom from Spain. Now, what
else do you want?
What are you about?
Why are you here?
But one thing I can say, that you
got more sense than these old Black leaders. Uh-huh.
You got more sense than... Because their mind is messed up.
This one up here, that young man right up here, "Use the N word.
Use the N word." And the Black aldermen say,
"He's sorry. He didn't mean it.
He didn't mean it." So there's not anything wrong with you all
advocating for your people. It's something wrong with these
Blacks on the plantation the White man made an
end. And that lady over here said... What?
I told her she looked just like Amanda Gaines to me.
Uh-huh.
Please refer to the chair, please, Mr. Blakemore.
Listen.
Focus your attention to the chair.
Listen. What? You're still in minutes.
Why would you interrupt me?
Direct your comments to the chair.
Thank you, Mr. Blakemore. Next speaker is Danielle Carter.
Oh.
You passing out? All right. Next speaker is Zoe Lee.
What's up? My name is Zoe
Lee,
and I did a video back in August of
2025. It was about the
VTTC
program
that Governor Pritzker and Dulce put
together to send the illegal aliens
that, for cash and food assistance,
victims of trafficking, torture, and other serious crimes.
They didn't have to explain anything. They just said that that's...
"Y'all sent them over here." The program operates, well, it
operated, I don't know if it's still there, at Humboldt Park Family
Community Resources, which is in Alderperson Jessica Fuentes'
ward. It was funded by our tax dollars.
Now, a few days ago, Dulce Quintero, since it's
Mexican, y'all about to give a resolution for the Mexican Americans,
she was sending the illegal aliens over
to, I'm pretty sure, this program,
and pre-filled out voter application forms.
This is why y'all got to get out of office.
This is why y'all got to get out of office, because y'all think that y'all going
to take over the city
And we're going to have to all speak Spanish.
And it just simply cannot happen. Okay, y'all spent
$2.2 billion
on illegal aliens while
2,500 people plus more
lost their homes. Black people.
Y'all not talking about that. But y'all
governor, because that's not my governor, y'all governor that takes care of the
illegals, makes sure that the gang prevention people
continue to wreak havoc,
is going to give y'all $15,000 for home assistance
while the federal judge just ruled Monday
that Cook County is liable to pay millions of dollars
to the Black people who lost their homes
due to these illegal tax
deals. Because y'all thought that Kamala Harris was going to get in,
right? And then y'all were going to play that foreclosure BS again.
Right? But that didn't happen. President Trump was able to get in there and
save the day
because y'all weren't going to save the day, and y'all were going to continue to
say, "Black and brown, Black and brown, Black and brown."
Well,
I think Dulce Quintero needs to explain to
us why she thinks that she can bring
illegal aliens to vote that do not have
IDs or citizenship.
Thank you. Our next speaker is Ms. Jessica
Jackson.
Now see how they're getting ready to let that woman break a rule?
Now she did not sign up in time for public speaking.
Now, I know it's okay, because you ain't going to get no three minutes the next-
Please direct your comments to the chair. Thank you very much.
No, I'm directing them to you.
Yes, we've done the same for y'all.
I'm directing them. Stop interrupting me.
Please.
That's why I'm standing here. I want to make sure that the rules are followed.
Uh-huh.
For everybody. And I don't care what color you are.
I don't care how you shake your head.
I don't care how you find our conversation offensive.
You're going to sit here and you're going to listen to it, like how we have to
listen to all these lies about these illegal immigrants.
You can nod your head and you can look perplexed and act like
you don't know what we're talking about.
I'm going to make it plain what we're talking about.
We're talking about the American citizens that are here
legally. We're talking about the taxpayers.
We're talking about Black people who are the most loyal
citizens to these United States of America.
We're talking about Chicagoans who we are tired of our money
going towards illegal immigration, over billions of dollars
in debt for this city to take care of these illegal immigrants who have not put
a dime, not a dime in this country. First, we got to
listen to your falsified, made-up stories
about refugees,
about asylum seekers. Then we go over here, and we got to listen to your
made-up stories
about domestic violence, and about how somehow you all think that
because you all are immigrants, it should be a special lane for domestic
violence for y'all with that, too.
So all of a sudden, illegal immigrants' lives are more than citizens'
lives?
Like you all believe that your housing
for illegals is more important than housing citizens?
That's why y'all won't mention that federal ruling that
the federal judge just made. Y'all won't even bring it up.
You won't even talk about it.
But you're getting ready to come to this mic, and you're going to talk about
resolutions and all that for a bunch of illegal immigrants. Shake your head.
I want you to shake your head to roll to the other side of the border.
Roll that head all the way back home.
I want you to blink them eyes and wonder, well, how do you get
back to the border? How do you get back to your country?
That's what you shake your head for, because it don't mean nothing.
It's a lie from the pit of hell. And Donald Trump,
President Donald Trump, is going to deal with it.
He's going to deal with it. Y'all are going to be made to take your sorry
selves back over to your border with all the American money that
you stole.
Thank you very much. For the record, I really want to thank you.
Going forward, anyone who doesn't sign in on the slips on time will not speak at
all,
including y'all. Thank you.
Next speaker, Taiwan Sims.
You're
getting $700,000 a day for your shelter franchise. People always laugh.
You and Danny Solis since...
It says,
"Opportunities for and
the security and stability for first-generation and second-generation
immigrants and refugees living in
Chicago." I wish that was true,
because some 30 months ago, there was an opportunity to not
have Midway Bliss even happen, and that opportunity came through our
Hispanic alderpeople,
the people that represent Little Village,
Back of the Yards, Humboldt, and whatnot, that could have
protected those first-generation and second-generation
communities
Those individuals who have been here for 30 and 40 years, who have built
taquerias, who run the automotives, who do the landscaping,
those people have set themselves in.
People throughout the North Side, throughout Humboldt Park, y'all could have
protected those individuals.
But instead, y'all opted to say, "We're going to stand up against
the federal government."
Because whatever this fight is against Donald Trump, y'all choose to put
the citizens, y'all's citizenry on the line.
Right? The constituents, those people who are
undocumented but have paid so much into the system,
who come out, they vote.
Laura Biden. Y'all had the opportunity to protect them. They did.
And we know that those are the individuals who are being picked up mostly by
ICE and Immigration
because they are well documented.
You can ride to their homes,
the homes they probably had for the last 20 to 15 years, and you could take them
out of those homes. But those illegals, you don't know where they
at.
They're not classified properly enough to come extract them out of our communities.
So don't get it twisted. This is not against the Latin
or Hispanic or Latinx or whichever way you want to say it,
community. This is against ill leadership, a
leadership that could have chose the people, that could have chose their
constituency over whatever the, what was it, a monetary
value? It was something that y'all gained
because the city is now 2-point-something billion dollars in debt.
Communities are still trying to recover from the Midway
Blitz, and y'all still trying to blame Donald Trump,
when y'all should directly look at each other
because y'all had the opportunity to bring relief to those
communities. And so we know that the illegals, y'all have gave them
preferential treatment, whether it be litigation and all of these different things,
while those families that got extracted, they pay the lawyers.
They had to maybe collateral those homes that they've been living
in for 15 years. Y'all didn't protect them, and y'all weren't fighting with
Trump. Y'all was fighting to continue whatever this hustle is against
Chicagoans
simply for the tax dollars. So don't make it a Black and a Brown
oppositional thing. This is ill leadership.
Thank you very much.
Next speaker is Manuel Castro.
Thank you. In favor of the resolution to name Chicago a
Mexican Heritage Day. Besides all
this nonsense
that some of the people is creating here,
as a daily citizenship, as a daily person that is living
in Chicago, as a father, as a entrepreneur,
as a person that is daily
dealing with persons and dealing with situations in my community,
besides of the people has documents or doesn't have documents,
what is more important for us is what is their contribution to this
community and what is the contribution to Chicago?
And not only Chicago, the rest of the country as well.
This resolution, I think they put it forward to make
apart Chicago from other cities and make an
example that
we here in Chicago, we care about the people.
And if we wanted the people to care and take care of the
city as well,
we need to make a differentiation of where they come from.
We need to let them know that they belong to here as well,
as a persons, as a workers,
citizenships,
with documents or with no documents.
They belong to here, to Chicago. Making
this
noticeable to everybody here in Chicago
is really important for the community here in Chicago.
Then I think this resolution that make apart that Chicago is
a place that welcome everybody regardless where they are coming from,
regardless if they are from Mexico, they are from Salvadorian, if they are
European, if they are from Middle East.
But it's important to make them know that they are welcome here in
Chicago. And what is more important is what is their contribution
intellectually, economically,
morally. What is their contribution as a persons to their community?
That is more important besides the nonsense political that sometimes
we hear
all around the country, we hear in the news, and sadly, we
hear in this place as well. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
The next speaker is Dr. Rita D. Hernandez.
Good morning. I am no longer a resident of Chicago.
I am formerly from Chicago, born, raised, educated with
a PhD from Loyola University. This is my book, though,
on Chicago Latina Trailblazers, and I would like to
see-- And some of these women are living.
In fact, one is present right here, right now, Emma Lozano.
And each chapter has a different woman's story.
Mexican and Puerto Rican women who have contributed
greatly to the infrastructures,
institutions, et cetera, created something newly in
Chicago that didn't exist prior to their working at it.
Now, in addition to that, what I would like to see happen
is thatWe get five schools because I have
spoken to five principals or administrators
in Chicago who have a percentage of 80% or
more Hispanic students, and we'd like to see the books get
into these schools.
The
current
situation in the Chicago public schools, of all schools,
is that
the high school students are tested in 11th
grade, and they are
scoring at
a reading level that is
far below.
22.4%, I believe, are at a
grade-level reading score, and their math
score is even lower than that.
This is something that should be
in everyone's mind, everyone's focus, because these are going to be our
future leaders. And I'm still an educator, even
though I've been retired from Chicago and retired from the
university in Texas. So,
I would like to see this happen here, and I would like your support
to get these books in the schools. Because so far,
we have not been able to do that with the Chicago Public
School Board.
So,
that's what I'm hoping for. And by the way, the Mexican American Heritage Day, I am
the founding member of the organization that is putting this
together and requesting it. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Our next speaker is Kishana Harris.
Hi, and good morning. Good morning to all of you guys.
My name is Kishana Harris, and I just want to talk about the importance
of unity here in Chicago and structure.
So we do come from a deconstruction city, and it's unfortunate
that we do have so many immigrants and individuals
experiencing homelessness and hardship.
I am the founder and executive director of Chicago Shower
Association, and I am here to just
enlighten you guys of what I'm doing here to incorporate everyone
a part of the shower service. Chicago, not just Chicago, but the
United States was made from a lot of different countries coming together to form it
as one. So we accept anyone that's a part of our frontier,
illegal or illegal. So just developing
a system where we are able to target individuals
based off their unique needs and not just a one-size-fits-all approach.
And our immigrants are very important to me in my shower situation
because we will be able to direct them to the proper services that they
need by them not being here in the country.
A lot of the things that's here won't even really suit them properly.
So just
being that barrier, just putting these things out here in the community, that's all
I'm trying to do. So, like I said, we will offer clean
clothes, hygiene supplies, and private shower stalls to individuals experiencing
hardship or homelessness, immigrants, non-immigrants, refugees,
whoever can come and utilize these showers and receive the services and the
help that they need. Because we all are United States citizens, if you're
illegal or not illegal. So just forming this
organization, it will be bridged in one community, but it will
typically expand out into all of our communities.
It'll be
a great thing, and I would be so grateful to just see this shower
service all around Chicago because it's much needed.
And having the impact where we're going to be able to help out the
immigrants and the refugees, that's a big part of what I'm doing.
It's 15 committees incorporated in on my organization, and immigrant and
refugees is one of the main committees because they need
help more than anyone. I feel so bad when they out and they can't
speak English or anything, and they can't get the right help.
So just having a shower service and place where these individuals can come,
get a shower, get clean clothes, get the resources that they need to be
placed where they have to be placed for their stability, dignity, and
humane feeling here in America. Because if you come here legal or not,
we all want everyone to feel like a citizen and try to help them take the
next steps to getting legalized and things in that nature.
So thank you guys for your support, and I'm just looking
forward to working with you guys and developing this process. Thank you so much.
Thank you very much, Ms. Harris.
And our final speaker is Carolina Cifuentes.
Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity.
I'm a resident of the city of Chicago in the Edgewater community.
Have lived in this fine city for over 40 years,
and
this is my first time here, and I'm afraid it won't be the last one.
Very interesting. I would like to say, first
of all,
respectfully,
even though some folks have left the room,
I hear their pain. I think everyone has the right
to speak their mind,
and I hope that that pain gets addressed
somehow.
Everybody's pain is there for a
reason, and the more we address that pain,
the more
we'll get along.
That said, I would like to express
just
my
sadness
and pain for the immigrant community
at large
thatThis country has come
to what it is
right now.
The treatment of immigrants,
the lack of due process,
the kidnapping of
folks without papers,
the fact that we're not on the streets every day because of that.
I don't know what it's going to take for us
to really get a response
and accountability for what's going on.
I know I don't have a whole lot of time, but I do know of people
in our communities, in our neighborhoods.
In fact, we were meeting last night with community members,
and we're
trying to support a family who has lost the dad
in the family and is in detention in Kentucky.
The communities don't have
tens of thousands of dollars that
it's costing to help a single family.
That's another family,
a little farther from us in West Ridge.
We are definitely personally touched
because we're supporting a
family whose two members
are in Kentucky, and they've been
moved from one place to another.
So my time is almost up, but I
promise you, I want to come back and hear more about what's
being done and what we're doing.
Thank you very much.
Thank you to all of our speakers today.
There being no more speakers, the public comment period is now concluded.
The first item on the agenda today before our committee is to approve the April
2026 Rule 45 report. Can I have a motion to approve?
So moved by Alderwoman Manal Hoppenworth. Hearing no objection, so ordered.
The second item is the consideration of
R2026-0023286,
a resolution commending the Mexican Heritage Day Association for its efforts to
call for February 2nd to be declared as a Mexican American Heritage Day,
brought to us by Alderperson Sigcho-Lopez.
I believe there's a substitute the sponsor wants to introduce.
May I have a motion to accept the substitution resolution for consideration?
It's okay. Just a second.
Alderwoman Gutierrez so moves. Hearing no objection, so ordered.
We now have the substitute before us.
I'd like to take some liberty as a chair before passing it on to the
lead sponsor.
I really do appreciate everyone being here and for the patience
as we started our committee. And really want to
thank everyone for their comments, whether we agree on them or not.
I think looking at what sometimes occurs here, for some folks who might be here the
first time,
is
part of the goal of the federal government.
It is to keep people hurt, angry, and divided
through whatever means possible.
And as we see, not only are undocumented population under attack,
we've also seen the Voting Rights Act being peeled away.
We've seen Roe being peeled away. We've seen so
many different groups all under attack.
Sometimes when we're caught in our emotions, it's easy to forget that.
And it makes it even more important that we think about our history and we think
about the history of this country.
That it is made up
of people who were kidnapped and enslaved and brought here, and made
up
of people came from different countries after the
United States destabilized their countries.
All of the pain did lead to a coalition
of people that have built what we are now.
And we are not often reminded, and we're actually watching the federal government
try to strip away history
anywhere it can. And so in that time that we find ourselves in, it is even
more important to understand the contributions of the many different
populations that helped create this nation.
So when we think about our Mexican American heritage and we think about what it's
added to our city, it's very important for us to be able to support those
efforts. And so I look forward to the conversation, and thank you for
your patience and understanding, both for the fact that the committee started a
little late, but also in understanding and seeing people's
very real pain, even if it gets expressed in a way that it might be painful to
others.
So with that, before I hand it off
to Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez, I'd like to recognize Alderperson Fuentes here for
quorum.
And now, Alderman Sigcho-Lopez, if you'd like to share some
remarks.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chairman
Andrew Vasquez, to the members of the committee, and to all our
distinguished guests. I want to thank you all for coming, and I wish
some members of the public who walked out, I hope and I wish that they had stood
here so that we can actually have a conversation and learn from history.
Because those who do not know their own history cannot overcome them.
So I am very grateful for all of you for being here today.
It is critical in this moment in history that we look at the past
so that we can move forward. And to me, as a
member of a proud Mexican and Mexican American community,
a port of entry that has welcomed people from
generations for many decades, have been a port of entry, a
proud Mexican and Mexican community that is an
example to the whole country about
resilient communities that are a
pearl in our city, that are an example of dignity and respect,
and are economic engines for the whole city of Chicago.
And I'm so grateful that we have the opportunity to recognize such
contributions of the Mexican and Mexican American
community. Today in our cityOne in five
Chicago residents have shared that they
have Mexican or Mexican American descent.
The contributions of our Mexican and Mexican American community for
generations, having an example of integrity, hard work,
and dignity throughout the city of Chicago, from railroad
bridges to
building the strong labor movements, to have a contribution to
the city of Chicago on how immigrants contribute
every day to what our city of Chicago
represents today, a place where everybody is welcome.
And we are proud to be a city that continues to welcome people.
I am very grateful for the presence, in particular, of Dr.
Magdalena Rivera, member
of the National Board of Mexican American Heritage Day Association.
Thank you, Dr. Rivera, for being with us.
Also, Pastora Emma Lozano, who's been a trailblazer
and a tireless advocate for the immigrant
community, the sister of our dear brother
Rudy Lozano, who championed the cause of undocumented
workers unapologetically, and built coalitions that elected
the first Black mayor in the city of Chicago and throughout the
country. That is something that we're all proud of, the kind of
contributions. And we're also very excited to have a
representative of the member of the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico from Michoacan,
our dear sister, Roselia Suarez Montes de Oca, who is here also coming from
Mexico to share with us some remarks.
I'm extremely excited about this, and I just want to end
sharing why this February 2nd,
1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe of Hidalgo is so important
for our community today to remember.
To look back at the past and know that our communities,
especially our neighbors from the south, have walked this
continent for thousands of years.
And it's really atrocious that our community is now today being
treated as foreigners, as enemies of the state, being
kidnapped and shot at, when we represent a
group of people who feed all our country in America.
Without immigrants, we would not be able to have food on our table.
These are the backbone of our country, and that is why it's so important that we
have this conversation.
Today, in the United States, representing nearly 40 million people, we must
acknowledge the historical roots of the people of Mexico and those
communities that are only separated by artificial borders.
The criminalization and dehumanization of immigrants is only the beginning to
consolidate a fascist regime that treats as enemy
anybody who does not agree. We here, we respect our human rights.
We're proud to be in Chicago, and we respect the freedom of speech.
And again, I wish those members of the public would have stayed here so that we can
have a real conversation and have a real discussion of history.
I also look forward to working with the members of this
panel to make sure that those books are in our schools.
I'm proud to be with Pastora Lozano, who's also a member of the Chicago Board of
Education. We want to make sure that our children feel proud of their identity,
that they're proud of where they come from, they know the rich history.
And I tell you, I want to share this important lesson in history.
We are in Potawatomi land. They keep us afire.
And I tell you that I don't know anybody else that keep up the fire alive than the
immigrant and Mexican and Mexican American community, that in spite of all the
challenges, every day shows up for our city.
I'm proud to be here supporting this resolution.
The last thing I would like to say is that there are so much history on
our Native American land. Again, we're in Potawatomi land.
And the Potawatomis had an interesting prophecy that said that
when the eagle and the condor reunite, we will find the
history, the joint history together, that we can coexist, that we
can love and care for each other. And as someone who come from the south,
I tell you, I have family in Mexico, El Salvador, Mexico.
I'm proud to say my dad went to la Universidad Autónoma de México,
la UNAM. Always seeing the Mexican
community as an example of integrity and dignity, welcoming many, many
people when others turn their back.
And I hope that this is a moment where we reunite our communities
and fight for the common good and a future for all our children.
It pains me to see the trauma that our children are enduring today,
and this is the beginning to heal, to know our history, and to repair it
together. So I look forward to working together to get these textbooks, to make
sure that we empower our youth and our children to be proud of where they come
from. And they're proud to speak many languages because that is the type of
city that we are, and that's why it's so important that we have this resolution to
recognize February 2nd as Mexican American
Heritage Day in the city of Chicago. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
We have three people providing testimony for this item today, so we will
introduce one at a time. Those of you, once you're introduced, if you could say
your name for the record and then be able to share your remarks.
Our first presenter is Dr. Magdalena Rivera,
CEO, President of the Illinois Migrant Council, and member of the National Board of
the Mexican American Heritage Day Association.
Doctor?
Right here.
Okay. Well, good morning, everyone.
And first and foremost, thank you so much for the opportunity to be here before
you today and speak on such an important issue as it is
for our history. And you are right, Alderman, our history
is very, very important, not only for us now but
for future generations.And as a
daughter of a farm worker and a former farm worker, and
resident of Pilsen,
not now, but previously,
it is extremely important for me to get involved with
this kind of issues because, as you highlighted, February
2nd, 1848 was the day the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was
signed. Not so many people are aware of what this treaty is, but
this was a pivotal moment in the history of the United States
and Mexico. It reshaped the geographical,
political, and cultural landscape of North
America. And a lot of people don't know or are not
aware that this treaty ceded lands that make up
most of today's Southwest. It also
granted US citizenship to the Mexican citizens
living in that territory, thus creating a new
ethnic identity, the Mexican
American identity, which we are all very proud
of. Now, this is historical happenings back in
1948 that are not in our history books, that
are not taught in our classrooms
to our Latino students. Therefore,
it is super important that February
2nd, not 1848, but the date,
is highlighted because it symbolizes the birth
of this new identity that a lot of the
times we
don't highlight and we don't share with our generations.
And yes, we do live in a melting pot here in the United
States, but this melting pot
has a huge, huge
population of Mexican Americans.
We are the largest indigenous
population of the United States.
Probably
higher than the 40 million that is accounted for nowadays.
So this day honors the vital roles Mexican
Americans have carried out in building
and strengthening the fabric of this nation,
shaping the US economy, society,
enriching the arts,
serving its defense in time of war, and
advocating for civil rights and labor reforms
for generations. It didn't just start now.
If we take into account LULAC, the League of the United Latin
American Citizens, the largest and the oldest Latino organization
defending civil rights across the nation, Puerto Rico, Alaska, and
Hawaii,
because believe me, we do have some of our
Mexican or other Latino citizens living there that deserve to
be advocated for.
LULAC is almost 100 years old in
existence, and that tells you that the reason
why we are almost 100 years old is because we defend
our history, we defend our rights.
And this is something that will give
us that step beyond just
celebrating our Mexican Independence Day.
It gives us the opportunity to celebrate and
recognize
with events and activities that are appropriate
to the nature of the cultural values
that we seek to preserve and to
respect our history that we must
pass on to our youth and children, and
at the same time, embrace our
elderly
that lives through memories, and gives them
that pride that they want,
not only to preserve, but to hand down to
new generations.
And as a Mexican American and as a
US citizen of this United States, this great nation
that gives us the opportunity for a better quality of life
to everyone in the world, not just
citizens of nations south of North of the
border.
We are a nation of immigrants, and we
need to preserve every
important date, not only for
Mexicans that we're talking about today, but for other
nationalities that are here as part of this country.
So
I am going to end this because I tend to become very
emotional. So
I want to just highlight that I am in full support,
and I would ask each and every one of you to please
consider the historical part, not just the
nationality that we are talking about, but the historical
part of Latinos, what deserves to be
highlighted and in our classrooms, as Dr.
Hernandez highlighted earlier in her
introductory here. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Our next presenter is Pastor Emma Lozano, United Lincoln
Methodist Church.
Gracias y buenas tardes.
I want to begin first by saying,
God bless our mayorJohnson and all the members of the
city council. And I always like to put out a
special double blessing for
the women members of the city council, because I remember days when
that was so impossible or was such a dream.
But I pray that you are always guided
by God to make the decisions, because we know that in your heart
you are dedicated to improve the conditions of all our
families and to help us keep our families
together, especially against deportation and
separation of family. I want to sincerely thank my
alderman, Byron Sigcho-Lopez of the 25th Ward, for
introducing this important resolution to
commemorate February 2nd as Mexican American Heritage
Day. This recognition honors the deep history,
sacrifices, and contributions of Mexican
Americans in our city and in our nation.
I also want to thank in advance again, Mayor
Brandon Johnson, all of the members of the city council, for
supporting and making sure we pass this resolution.
This is deeply personal to me, to the entire Lozano
family, and to the legacy of my brother Rudy Lozano, who was
assassinated in 1983 after playing a
critical role in defending the undocumented workers
and helping elect Harold Washington, Chicago's first Black
mayor,
who also introduced the first sanctuary city.
Rudy Lozano and Harold Washington were pioneers.
They were trailblazers in building a more
just Chicago, including laying the groundwork for
the sanctuary city values we continue to defend today.
This resolution not only a celebration of our heritage,
but a tribute to those whose struggles and
sacrifices made our community visible and strong.
Midway Blitz and ICE enforcement, this is just
a tactic
to basically destabilize our
families by deportation and separation in family.
And I am very appreciative of all the work that
you have all done to keep us safe. So again, this is not
just a celebration of our heritage, but a tribute to
those whose struggles and sacrifices made our community visible,
strong, and yous are the ones that are going to continue to keep
us safe. Gracias y siempre adelante.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. Before we go to our final presenter, we do
have
one of our members of the committee who would like to
provide remarks, ask questions. Alderwoman Gutierrez?
Thank you, Chairman. And my apologies that I need
to go remotely after my remarks. But as you all
know, I'm one of the
alderpersons, the first alderwoman in the 14th Ward,
and a proud Mexican American. I was born and raised in Guadalajara,
Jalisco, Mexico. I've been in the States for a few years.
And nothing gets me more pride like these type of
resolutions. I want to thank Chairman Byron Sigcho-Lopez
for bringing it up to us, and all the speakers and guests today.
And I signed up as a co-sponsor, not only because I'm Mexican,
but because we need to continue to honor and respect
all of our different cultures and immigrants that have
been coming to our great country of the US.
People may think that we're only supporting this because of our ethnicity
or our background, but we're here to support every single one of our
constituents.
We all know, for example, in my ward, I have a lot of Polish members.
And we will continue to put forward resolutions, ordinances, and
celebrations for them, as well as any other culture or
ethnicity here in our community, in our ward.
Happy to co-sponsor. And as you all said, we need to
continue to relay this history and message to all of
our kids and youth, because many of them may just hear the
border crossed the Mexicans. They're now
part of the US, and they might hear it, but do not know why
that happened. We just need to remember and tell them because of what happened
in February 2nd. So with this resolution, we're going to
continue to teach history.
And it's also us, as Mexicans and as Latinos,
to teach our own kids about our own history.
If the books and school cannot teach them, it's also a
responsibility at home to let them know how great our countries are,
and why we sacrifice, and why we took that decision
to come here and now have our families
here in the US with all the struggles.
And I'm just happy and honored to be an alderwoman in this
beautiful city of Chicago. But the most important thing, being a
sanctuary city.
Being part of a city and a state that welcomes
immigrants, that protect them,
fight for them, and will continue to work for them.
Thank you so much.
Thank you very much.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you for the remarks, and we'll make sure that you're on for our virtual as
well.
Thank you. And our final presenter is Diputada Roselia Suárez
Montes de Oca, member of the Chamber of Deputies of México,
Michoacán.
Muchísimas gracias por la invitación.
Es un gusto poder estar en este
espacio donde ustedes presentan pues una iniciativa
resolución para los, ehMéxico americanos.
Así es. Mi nombre es Roselia Suárez, soy diputada federal migrante.
Llevo 10 años residiendo en la ciudad de Chicago y soy
originaria efectivamente de Ciudad Hidalgo, Michoacán.
Y el día de hoy, después de 10 años viviendo en la ciudad de Chicago,
me tocó estar representando a las y los
mexicanos que residimos fuera de México.
Y es un gusto ver que tanto en México, en la Cámara de
Diputados, hoy tenemos en el muro de honor a la comunidad
mexicana migrante.
Aquí también en la ciudad de Chicago, se está celebrando
también esta resolución, en donde se reconoce el día México
americano. Y comentarles que estamos también desde
México, no solo buscando que nosotros estemos en el
muro de honor como migrantes, sino que también estemos en la
Constitución. Será un gusto para mí,
probablemente invitarles a ver que pasemos
los migrantes de estar solo en ese muro de honor en Cámara de
Diputados, estar también en la Constitución.
Y es por eso que me alegra mucho estar aquí con ustedes
y recibir esta invitación. Agradezco también
al alcalde Brandon Johnson por toda la protección que ha estado
dando a los migrantes, que reconoce el trabajo que se está
haciendo de cada uno de nosotros y
asimismo por reconocer también al alderman
Sícho López, por supuesto a Emma Lozano, por estar al
pendiente de este tipo de resoluciones y asimismo también
a André Vázquez, porque es un gusto que estemos
impulsando este tipo de resoluciones, donde dejamos
saber que las mexicanas y mexicanos
tenemos el corazón bien puesto en ambos
países y al mismo tiempo respetamos las
soberanías de ambos países. Es importante ver cómo
se reconoce en este día México americano, el trabajo
de los mexicanos y la responsabilidad que compartimos en
ambos países.
Es un día donde expresamos, creo yo, el
respeto a ambas soberanías, donde hoy en día la
situación es difícil, pero creo que podemos
dar ejemplo tanto en el Congreso, en
México, en diferentes ciudades también aquí en
Estados Unidos, que el poder
legislativo también tiene esa opinión y tiene ese
sentir. Es decir, en cada uno de los
actos que se llevan a cabo en las ciudades o en los congresos se
reflejan. Yo justo
hice el honor de recibir la medalla también para el
mérito chilango al compañero Jorge Mujica,
quien todavía no la recibe, se la voy a
entregar,
pero el Congreso de la Ciudad de México también reconoce a los
mexicanos que viven fuera de México y que
defienden los derechos laborales.
Agradezco a todos por el tiempo y
efectivamente ojalá se hubieran quedado un poquito más para escuchar
todo lo que teníamos que decir las y los
representantes que estaban aquí. Gracias.
Muchas gracias.
So for our members, I will do my best to do a paraphrased
version.
Thank you. So
Deputy Suárez Montes de Oca wanted to thank members of the
council and the committee here and the city as well.
As somebody who's been a resident here for 10 years, she
appreciates the opportunity to represent the country.
And also recognizing the work that Mayor Johnson, that Alderperson Byron
Sigcho López and members of the committee and the City Council have done here in
the city.
Mexico, recognizing that both countries are sovereign, also understands the work
that is happening currently in the moment, watching how our
undocumented populations are sometimes treated here, and is appreciative of the
fact that there is the opportunity to recognize Mexican American
Heritage Day.
And I need the details on the medal.
¿Cuáles detalles de la medalla que está hablando?
La representación al mérito chilango.
El compañero Jorge Mujica es nacido en la Ciudad de México.
So the
Congress in Mexico City
recognized Jorge Mujica for
fighting for the worker rights in Chicago.
And he
born and rise in Mexico City. So I
just pick up that for him, and I bring to him.
Thank you very much. Muchas gracias por eso.
Y por el inglés, que es mejor que mi español ahorita.
Thank you so much. Now we're going to open it up for remarks or questions from
members of the committee.
First, we'll go to Alderman Quesada, followed by Alderperson Fuentes
Sure. Thank you, Chair, and thank you to all of our guests for being here and to
the members of the public. Again, my name is Anthony Joel
Quezada. I am the proud son of Mexican and Costa
Rican immigrants. My dad is from Encarnación de Díaz in Jalisco,
also known as La Chona.
So me and Alderwoman Gutiérrez, we are children of Jalisco, and I
know that Cook County Commissioner Alma Naya is as well, and we call each other
primos and primas because we're Jaliscoans.
I do want to correct some of the false information that was shared
earlier by members of the public. Just for the record, in
2023,
undocumented immigrant households paid $89.8 billion
in federal, state, and local taxes, and held
$299 billion in spending power. In
total, immigrant households paid $16.80
in every $100
of tax dollars collected by federal, state, and local governments.
Immigrants also hold a huge amount of
housing wealth in the United States.
In 2023, immigrant households paid over
$167 billion in rent in the housing market
and held over $6.6 trillion in housing wealth in
total. So that's just to clarify some of the details that our
immigrant and our undocumented neighbors do not contribute to our economy.
They do, but they contribute more than just dollars.
People are more than just the capital that they produce.
They are human beings, they have souls, and they contribute to the
cultural, historic, civic, political
ecosystem and fabric of our entire society as a whole.
And I hope that one day humanity can evolve past this
notion of treating people in buckets of the world, but seeing
truly ourselves as one united species that needs to work
together in order to save our community.
So it's extremely important that this resolution is brought forward.
I want to thank my colleague, Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez, for bringing this
forward. Because in this moment of the current
context of this movement of white supremacy, of Christian
nationalism and extremism that is seeking to rewrite
history and criminalize our communities, it's so important that we take
time to honor and to recognize our shared history, the
complications of those shared histories, so that we can, as my colleague
said, paint a better pathway and future for coexistence
and for peace and for justice and solidarity.
As a young leader who ran for office for Cook County
Commissioner in 2022, I became the first openly q***r Latino
to serve on the Cook County Board of Commissioners, the first Democratic socialist
to serve on the Board of Commissioners.
But my history, my political trajectory is not possible
without the work of trailblazers like Emma Lozano and
Rudy Lozano and Chuy Garcia, who led the way for
leaders like myself to be in this chamber today to share my
history and to also represent my communities on the northwest side, which are
Irving Park, Avondale, Logan Square, Hermosa.
Communities that have many Mexican and Mexican Americans today,
and especially in our fight as we seek to protect and defend them
from ICE and from
fascism.
It's extremely, again, important that we uplift our history, connect them,
and make sure people feel seen and heard.
I also want to uplift, very briefly, there is so much to
learn from our Mexican brothers and sisters today.
With the presidency of Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo and
also of the Morena party, we are looking at a
blueprint for how we can unite poor and working-class people to actually
build a government and economy that represents them and their needs.
And so, I look to our brothers and sisters in Morena.
I look to the leadership of President Sheinbaum as a model
for what the United States should be doing in this moment to confront corporate
authoritarianism, neoliberalism, and fascism.
And I believe those are the values that guide Mexicans and Mexican Americans in our
communities today, and that's why we need to uplift and honor them every single
day. Thank you very much.
Next is Alderperson Fuentes.
Thank you, Chairman. I just want to add another
comment to Alder Quezada's points, and that is if Mexican
Americans and immigrant were to refuse to participate
in the labor of this country, our economy would fall apart.
And we have to recognize the
sweat equity, the blood, the time, and
the sacrifice that this community
has given to this country, a country that has taken so
much from them.
And we cannot continue to allow the rhetoric of
hate to permeate our sort of perception of
all that this community has contributed.
Look, I'm a Boricua Cubana, born and raised in Humboldt Park.
But my first political activity was holding
a Puerto Rican flag outside of Arabello Church on
Division Street, protecting Elvira Arellano from ICE,
a woman who has given so much to this city
and who raised a son who's now a leader, and in
fact, works for Mayor Brandon Johnson here on the fifth
floor.
That is the type of leadership and the type of
contributions that the Mexican community
provides, not just Chicago, but this entire country.
As someone who has the privilege of born citizenship, as someone
who understands colonialism from the perspectives
of the Caribbean, I know how important February 2nd is.
It's not just the acknowledgment of the Mexican community, but it
is an acknowledgment of the type of robbery
that imperialism can conduct on an
entire nation.And we have to not forget
that component of history. We have to continue
to be critical about our experiences, our
lived experiences, and ensure that in a moment of
fascism, that we remind people that we've been here before.
We've been here before. And the only way that we overcome
moments like this is with true solidarity and with true
organizing. And so I'm grateful to be a council member
in a moment in which love is necessary to lead,
and in which we work extremely hard to protect all residents,
in a moment in which physical and
social hate is terrorizing our
city. And so I am favorable for this resolution.
I thank Chairman Byron Sigcho-Lopez for putting it forward, and I hope that
February 2nd is a day that we will always remember, and a day that
we recognize the resilience of a nation, and that we celebrate the
liberation of its future. Thank you all for being here.
Thank you very much. I'd also like to recognize everyone here.
We have Susana Villalvazo Sandoval, the Consul for Press, Media, and Political
Affairs from Mexico. So thank you very much for being with us as well. Thank you.
Do any of the members have any other questions, comments?
With that, I want to thank our presenters,
President Dr. Rivera, Pastor Lozano, and Diputada Suárez
Montes de Oca. I want to thank you all as well, because
we need to acknowledge the fact that it's women doing a whole lot of work out here,
and the fact that you all do this and lead in this moment,
that you push for our city,
having the voice that we do, and to partner with us to make this
not only just something Chicago is saying, but the whole nation needs to.
I really appreciate it. We know there's
most of the time, if not all the time, it's women leading who don't get the
recognition, and I want to make sure that you all do.
Thank you so much for that.
As all the presentations and questions have now concluded,
again, thank you all. Can I have a motion to vote on the resolution?
So moved by Alderman Quesada. All those in favor of
passing the resolution, respond by saying "aye."
All those opposed, say "nay."
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
I will report this vote as a recommendation to pass at the next city council
meeting on May 20th, 2026.
Copies of any supplemental-- Thank you, Chairman.
Copies of any supplemental materials will be sent to you, and all materials will be
hosted on the committee website, welcometochicago.org,
within a week.
Any through the chair follow-ups will be sent to alders pending response from IGA
and presenters. With no further business before the committee, may I have a motion
to adjourn?
So moved by Alderwoman Mana Haberworth.
Hearing no objections, so ordered.
The meeting of the Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights is now
adjourned.